Sometimes, when I hit the >> 4 times to fast forward through commercials, the image on the screen will get stuck while the DVR continues to FF. I have to slow it down or go back to play and FF again to see when it has gotten back to the program. It doesn't happen every time, but in the past it never happened at all. Normally I go into 4x >> mode and keep an eye on the screen to see when I'm through the commercials. I can't rely on this method anymore without having to stop and start again.

Personally I find 4X useless for skipping commercials because the system cannot display the screen shots fast enough to keep up. I use to 3X for maybe 5 seconds, then drop back to 2X and am able to stop in the right spot almost every time.

An alternate way is that in researching this I found out that the Skip Forward button has 2 different modes. 30SLIP and 30SKIP.

SLIP = you see the 30 seconds go by quickly on the screen.

SKIP = it jumps instantly to 30 seconds ahead.

Mine used to be 30SKIP but something that DirecTV did changed that to 30SLIP at some point. I found out how to reprogram the DVR to go back to 30SKIP, which I prefer. Then I have to guess how many commercials I have to skip. and it doesn't take as long as 30SLIP.

However, I'd like the freezing of the screen on FF to be resolved as well. I am pretty good at timing when to stop it when it's working correctly.

Also noteworthy, searching here in the forums wasn't very helpful, but searching on Google for the right threads in DirecTV forums worked much better at locating useful threads.

More data: I tested whether the DVR recording 0, 1, or 2 programs while I'm playing back another causes the poor performance in FF. The status of recording other programs alone did not trigger the issue. I haven't been able to reliably replicate the issue or create an environment in which it arises. However, it definitely has been happening, intermittently, for some time now.